How about November 1934?

November 10, 2012

Well, for instance, Dr. Francis B. Trudeau, grandfather of Garry Trudeau, was in Washington, D.C., presenting President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a replica of "Little Red," the first tuberculosis curing cottage in the United States.

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How about November 1948?

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Harry Truman, 64 years old, won the presidential election in 1948, and the headline on the Syracuse Post-Standard on Thursday, Nov. 4, declared, "Truman Sweeps Party to Triumph," and the story read; "Scrappy, under-rated Harry Truman captured the presidential election yesterday in one of the biggest upsets in America's political history.

"And in the hour of his greatest triumph, the Democratic Party gave him a solid, comfortable majority in both Senate and House.

"It was a triumph which the little man from Missouri, standing almost alone against the flood-tide of pre-election forecasts, had predicted with unswerving confidence."

The vote: "Truman 24,179,347 and Dewey 21,991,347."

(The U.S. population in 1948 was 146,631,302.)

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How about November 1956?

That was 56 years ago, and 66-year-old Dwight D. Eisenhower had just won a second huge victory over Adlai E. Stevenson for president of the United States. The Associated Press reported, "The avalanche gave the President a winning margin of more than 300,000 votes in his repeat victory over Adlai Stevenson."

In his victory speech, the president said, "With whatever talents the good God has given me and with whatever strength there is in me, I will continue, and so will my associates, to do just one thing: to work for the 168 million Americans (2011 population 311,591,917) here at home and for peace in the world."

The Congress was held by the Democrats, and the president immediately, according to the AP, did this: "President Eisenhower today (Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1956) called congressional leaders of both parties to a White House meeting Friday for discussion of steps toward creation of a lasting peace in the Middle East. (What else is new?) Eisenhower's press secretary, James C. Hagerty, said the conference would also deal with the situation in Central Europe."

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How about November 1968?

The Enterprise sports page had this: "Gene LaFave rolled games of 205, 154 and 258 to defeat Marty Piraino Saturday night at the Tupper Bowl. Piraino, one of New York's best known professional bowlers, appeared through the courtesy of the Genesee Brewing Company and the Tupper Lake Junior Bowling Association. Piraino rolled 201, 205 and 220."

More from the Enterprise sports page: "Brian Pelkey continues to make track history at Potsdam College and set a new course record this year, giving coach Mike Lebeda reason to look a year ahead with a great deal of optimism.

"Pelkey, a natural distance runner and a star miler at Saranac Lake, was also a member of the Redskins basketball team which went into the Northern League championships last winter and nearly grabbed the crown."

(Some information in this column is from my private stash of Enterprises. The copy of the Post-Standard was given to me by Bob Donaldson, and the address on the newspaper when it was mailed in 1948 went to Mrs. Theodore Peet, Lake Clear Junction, N.Y. - no ZIP codes back then.)

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How About November 1969?

That November was 43 years ago, and we were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, which is now 118 years old. Boy, I hope that is correct, because I would have failed ninth grade math if it were not for the special noon-time tutoring of Miss Ruby Baker.

Rip Allen was one of the best reporters ever at the Enterprise, and he did many feature stories for this special edition. I love this excerpt from a story by Rip about Einstein:

"He isn't any good at figures," said Mrs. Einstein. "And Herbert Leggett looked on as the world famous physicist and Nobel Prize Winner did indeed sit there scratching his head in perplexity over the intricacies of a summer home lease. At last, Mrs. Einstein had to take over the calculations herself, and they both laughed. They were a happy couple, and they laughed a lot.

"That was the summer of 1936 when the Einsteins, through Leggett's real estate office, rented the William Distin house in Glenwood Estates. They had been offered several lodgings closer to town, some of them even free of charge, but the threat of publicity seemed to hang over them all, and the Einsteins, who had no need of that during a summer vacation, were content to retire at a little distance."

This same 1969 issue carried a long story about Adirondack railroads by Maitland DeSormo, including this piece about Tupper Lake Junction:

"In 1913 the arrival of each train at Tupper Lake Junction touched off a busy scramble, with scores of passengers boarding or leaving the cars, express crews bustling around and 'busmen' for the Altamont, the Iroquois and the Holland House vieing for fares.

"There were six trains scheduled north and six south daily. The Montreal Express pulled in at 5:05 a.m. It was followed at 6:15 by the Adirondack Express. At 1:15 p.m. the Adirondack Local rolled in; at 5:05 p.m. the Adirondack and Montreal Special and at 7:18 p.m. the Tupper Lake Local was due. Add to this schedule the daily freight trains and the same number of trains going south."